The present invention relates to a vehicle seat storage system and particularly one which provides a lateral slide-out storage system for fold-up seats.
Multipurpose vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles, vans and the like which have a variety of seat configurations, are employed for numerous uses, such as shopping, transportation of children to and from school activities, heavy duty hauling and the like. Tradespeople use such vehicles to transport their tools and equipment as well as working from spaces within the vehicle. With such vehicles, the seats typically can be moved between normal seating positions and various lowered or raised positions or removed to accommodate different storage and transportation needs. Adjustable and/or removable storage bins have been located in the rear or trunk areas of vehicles, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,015,071 and 6,050,202. Some vehicle seats have seat backs which include recessed storage areas for use when the seat backs are folded down. There remains a need, however, for improved and more flexible storage systems in such vehicles and particularly one which takes advantage of seats which have a seating section which can be folded upwardly and latched to expose the floor area.